NINE MILE CREEK, P.E.I. — After nearly two years in limbo, Ellen Jones has secured a place for her horse therapy operation.
Jones has purchased a 7.5 acre-property in Nine Mile Creek to get the Hughes-Jones Centre up and running again.
She has just got a permit to build an 1,800-square-foot, one-story house and another permit to build a 60-foot by 80-foot barn. Construction was expected to start on May 13.
“Everything is in place,’’ she says. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to dig a hole.’’
Jones plans to fence in about 90 per cent of her property to offer as much pasture as possible for her six horses to enjoy.
Last year, the province denied her application to subdivide property from a parcel of land along Hyde Point Road in Meadow Bank.
Jones dropped her plan to appeal the decision. She believes her appeal would have been successful, but she chose not to take on the legal expense and effort to go that route.
She is pleased with the scenic location in Nine Mile Creek, which she does not consider a consolation prize.
“This is horse country,’’ she says. “I think we can do something really special here and I’m just really looking forward to the opportunity of being able to do that.’’
“It was a long and challenging road. I’m really hopeful and optimistic that we can take this (business) and again get back into that whole being a part of a community again working toward positive change for P.E.I.’’
- Ellen Jones
Jones had her business uprooted after 10 years of operation when the province expropriated her property to pave the way for construction of the Cornwall bypass. She was awarded nearly $300,000 in additional compensation for a total of $831,800.
She has been frustrated in being sidelined for two years from a business that incorporates horses in developing life skills, empowerment and leadership skills.
“It was a long and challenging road,’’ she says.
“I’m really hopeful and optimistic that we can take this (business) and again get back into that whole being a part of a community again working toward positive change for P.E.I.’’
She has made good use of the time, though, studying leadership at the University of Oxford and achieving certification in executive coaching from the University of Cambridge.
She even had a strong showing in the provincial election. Running as Green party candidate for District 16 Cornwall-Meadowbank, she placed second to Liberal candidate Heath MacDonald, picking up 33.1 per cent of the votes.
